the demise of Abraham's sacred tree
As the largest plant, rooted in the earth and reaching skyward, trees were the earliest focus of religious life for many peoples around the world.Ancient religions worshiped trees in sacred groves, invested them with mythic spirits and were in awe of their fertility, longevity and healing powers. Even Abraham had a sacred tree -- the Tamarisk.
Evidence for tree worship does not just exist in mythologies. There are artifacts, monuments, artistic reliefs and even rugs that show reverence towards trees. Also, sacred forests still exist in Japan, India and on the island of Bali, and from them we get an idea of what these woody glades were like in pre-Christian Europe.
Mythologies may differ in their accounts of creation, but a tree of knowledge seems to be evident in all. In Norse mythology, the first man and woman -- the parents of all mankind -- were created from trees. The man from an Ash tree, the woman from an Elm. And, a great ash tree, Yggdrasil, supported the universe, striking its root through all the worlds, all knowing, connecting the underworld and heaven with its roots and boughs.
Sacred trees were worshipped by the Babylonians and Assyrians and by the ancient druids of Britain and by the Baal worshippers in Canaan. All taught of a sacred Tree of Life and had rituals involving sacred agricultural products associated with the spirit world.
The grapevine, more so than the date-palm, was the Tree of Life in Assyrian religious imagery, and the the king was the primary participant in a fertility rite which identified him with the Tree of Life, investing him with the fertility and longevity of the tree.There are numerous ancient Assyrian reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees.
In Ancient Egypt, the Sycamore tree carried special mythical significance. Twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate where the sun god Re awoke each morning, and sycamore wood was used for coffins to enable the dead to return to the womb of the mother tree goddess. The willow tree was sacred to Osiris; myrrh trees are prominent at the Temple of Hatshepsut; the date palm was a sacred tree, its branches symbolizing the god of eternity, 'Heh'.
The two trees of Genesis -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil growing at the centre of the Garden of Eden -- are ancient mythologies brought by Abraham, the Patriarch father of the Jews, from his roots in Ur, modern Iraq. As indeed was the story of Adam and Eve.The story of Enki and Ninhursag of Dimun in Sumeric literature pre-dated Adam and Eve.
Abraham worshiped his god Yahweh at a Tamarisk tree that he had planted. His descendants, the Hebrews, carried on many of the Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies in their biblical writings and viewed the Olive tree, its fruit, and oil as being particularly sacred. And his other descendants, the Arabs, developed the Moslem Tree of Life from the Lote tree, marking the boundary between the human and the divine.
The prophet Zoroaster of the Persians, from whom Christianity gained many of its customs, taught that cultivating the good earth was, in itself, a sacred duty. And, the early Christians -- most of whom were Jews -- also held the olive tree and its products as sacred symbols. The olive tree has a reputation of living on through all travails, and the oil was seen as a gift from God.Thus, the Christians adopted olive oil an holy anointing oil, and they adopted the Palm branch as a symbol of Christ's victory over death.
Baal, the consort of the mother goddess Asherah (believed to be a tree), was the most prominent in the Canaanite pantheon of deities. Tree planting was seen as a sacred duty of all Canaanites. As the god of fertility Baal governed agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality. High places in the hills consisting of an altar and a sacred tree were used for Baal worship, and the fertility cults practised around such trees attracted many of the Israelites.
Intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, the Israelite rulers wanted to suppress and replace the Pagan Canaanite cults and eventually succeeded in doing so.
They expressly forbade the planting of trees because of its association with Baal -- and this fact may explain why the area became devoid of trees. They also forbade the cutting down of trees in fear they would be shaped into idols.
Evidence for tree worship does not just exist in mythologies. There are artifacts, monuments, artistic reliefs and even rugs that show reverence towards trees. Also, sacred forests still exist in Japan, India and on the island of Bali, and from them we get an idea of what these woody glades were like in pre-Christian Europe.
Mythologies may differ in their accounts of creation, but a tree of knowledge seems to be evident in all. In Norse mythology, the first man and woman -- the parents of all mankind -- were created from trees. The man from an Ash tree, the woman from an Elm. And, a great ash tree, Yggdrasil, supported the universe, striking its root through all the worlds, all knowing, connecting the underworld and heaven with its roots and boughs.
Sacred trees were worshipped by the Babylonians and Assyrians and by the ancient druids of Britain and by the Baal worshippers in Canaan. All taught of a sacred Tree of Life and had rituals involving sacred agricultural products associated with the spirit world.
The grapevine, more so than the date-palm, was the Tree of Life in Assyrian religious imagery, and the the king was the primary participant in a fertility rite which identified him with the Tree of Life, investing him with the fertility and longevity of the tree.There are numerous ancient Assyrian reliefs of winged deities watering or protecting sacred trees.
In Ancient Egypt, the Sycamore tree carried special mythical significance. Twin sycamores stood at the eastern gate where the sun god Re awoke each morning, and sycamore wood was used for coffins to enable the dead to return to the womb of the mother tree goddess. The willow tree was sacred to Osiris; myrrh trees are prominent at the Temple of Hatshepsut; the date palm was a sacred tree, its branches symbolizing the god of eternity, 'Heh'.
The two trees of Genesis -- the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil growing at the centre of the Garden of Eden -- are ancient mythologies brought by Abraham, the Patriarch father of the Jews, from his roots in Ur, modern Iraq. As indeed was the story of Adam and Eve.The story of Enki and Ninhursag of Dimun in Sumeric literature pre-dated Adam and Eve.
Abraham worshiped his god Yahweh at a Tamarisk tree that he had planted. His descendants, the Hebrews, carried on many of the Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies in their biblical writings and viewed the Olive tree, its fruit, and oil as being particularly sacred. And his other descendants, the Arabs, developed the Moslem Tree of Life from the Lote tree, marking the boundary between the human and the divine.
The prophet Zoroaster of the Persians, from whom Christianity gained many of its customs, taught that cultivating the good earth was, in itself, a sacred duty. And, the early Christians -- most of whom were Jews -- also held the olive tree and its products as sacred symbols. The olive tree has a reputation of living on through all travails, and the oil was seen as a gift from God.Thus, the Christians adopted olive oil an holy anointing oil, and they adopted the Palm branch as a symbol of Christ's victory over death.
Baal, the consort of the mother goddess Asherah (believed to be a tree), was the most prominent in the Canaanite pantheon of deities. Tree planting was seen as a sacred duty of all Canaanites. As the god of fertility Baal governed agriculture, animal husbandry, and human sexuality. High places in the hills consisting of an altar and a sacred tree were used for Baal worship, and the fertility cults practised around such trees attracted many of the Israelites.
Intent on establishing their monotheistic cult of Yahweh, the Israelite rulers wanted to suppress and replace the Pagan Canaanite cults and eventually succeeded in doing so.
They expressly forbade the planting of trees because of its association with Baal -- and this fact may explain why the area became devoid of trees. They also forbade the cutting down of trees in fear they would be shaped into idols.
Labels: abraham, asherah, assyrians, baal, babylonians, norse mythology, olive, sacred tree, tamarisk, tree of knowledge, tree of life, tree worship, yggdrasil, Zoroaster
<< Home